Newsletter of the U.S.S. Chesapeake Star Trek and Science-Fiction Club January, 2005 Star Trek journeys into the cell phone gaming universe Star Trek fans who enjoy playing games said Adrian Risch, Jumbuck Entertainment on their wireless devices, rejoice! Jumbuck CEO. “Star Trek is a valuable asset, and to Entertainment has answered your wishes with ensure we met the expectations of the legion two new wireless games, both based in Classic of fans, we worked in close cooperation with Gamers can now Star Trek. Viacom and fans to get the design right.” enjoy playing in the Star Trek—The Birds of Prey and Star Trek The hard work appears to have paid off. Classic Trek era on their cell phone. —The Cold Enemy are for fans and gamers of Birds of Prey was awarded 8.9 out of a possible all ages, each featuring varying strategy, action 10 by Steve Palley, editor and reviewer at and skill levels, as well as a blending in of Wireless Gaming Review. He described the original music and storylines from the Classic game as “one of those exceedingly rare media- Trek series. licensed mobile games that flies in the face of In Star Trek—The Birds of Prey, players convention. It’s not only a pleasant surprise— engage the U.S.S. Enterprise in combat against it’s a spectacular action game that is easily one Klingons and Romulans in a vertical arcade- of the best shooters on the mobile platform.” style shooter. Not only are there deadly ene-  Outtakes and deleted scenes will be mies, but players must also contend with highlights of the upcoming Star Trek: Enter- natural obstacles and dangers such as worm- prise DVDs when they are released in box sets holes and giant planet-based cannons, as well later this year. as maneuver through dangerous solar flares. The Digital Bits website is reporting from Star Trek—The Cold Enemy is a platform an insider that the multi-disc collections of scrolling adventure game where players take Enterprise episodes will feature rare, unaired on the role of Chief Engineer Montgomery footage. The original series “blooper reel,” a Scott as the ship has been overrun by Kling- collection of outtakes and jokes on the part of ons. As Scotty, players race through six levels the cast, were a highlight of Trek conventions of action trying to free their trapped fellow for many years. crewmates, not only on the ship but also on The first set of Enterprise DVDs, currently exotic planet surfaces and menacing under- scheduled to be released in May, will also ground caverns, all the while taking on all reportedly include “Enterprise Secrets,” which IN THIS ISSUE: kinds of enemies. are probably similar to the “Red Shirt Diaries” Art Credits 3 Captain’s Log 2 “These are Jumbuck’s best games yet!” Easter Eggs on the Classic Trek DVDs. Club Members Insert front Coming Events 6 Start out 2005 at the January club meeting! Directions to Meeting The next meeting of the U.S.S. Chesapeake At 7 p.m., we’ll begin our monthly club Insert front Holodictation 6 Star Trek and Science-Fiction Club will be meeting, which will include discussion of Meeting Minutes held on Saturday, January 22, at the Laurel, upcoming conventions (including Farpoint), Insert back Maryland, home of Starfleet Intelligence find out what fellow club members are up to Rantings 5 Reflections 4 Officer Annie White and Chief of Computer and get the latest Star Trek and other science- Science Trek 3 Operations John White. fiction news. We’ll gather at 5 p.m. at their home to Check out the insert with this newsletter decide what we’ll do for dinner that evening. for directions. Volume 14, Issue 1 CAPTAIN’S LOG: New voyages of Classic Trek—4 For the past few months, we’ve been Romulans, who claim the Federation has looking at fan films continuing the adventures made an unprovoked attack on a science of Kirk and company in Star Trek: New Voy- station on their side of the border. ages and another series following the journeys The Exeter joins the battle, and after the of a different ship set in the Classic Trek era, Romulans retreat, Kirk decides to investigate Starship Exeter. their claims while Captain Garrovick helps the It wasn’t long before the fan in me asked damaged ship get to a nearby starbase. the inevitable question: “What would happen It doesn’t take the Enterprise long to find if these two ships ever teamed up?” out who’s at the bottom of this mess, an Happily, other online fans have asked this enemy who has ties to both Kirk and the question, and the answer required the crews Exeter. (I don’t want to give it ALL away, but to jump to another format and get animated! just think of the scene with fighting music in A really fun site on the World Wide Web “The Omega Glory.”) is www.startrekanimated.com, which cele- The comic is a bit thin on plot, but it has brates what is usually called Star Trek: The incredible art and makes brilliant use of Animated Series, a cartoon produced by Film- continuity from “The Omega Glory” and ation in the 1970s that featured the voices of “The Enterprise Incident,” as well as the the original series actors in new adventures of prefix code introduced in Star Trek II: The the starship Enterprise. Wrath of Khan. Along with a message board where you Therefore, I heartily recommend every- can discuss your favorite TAS episode, the site one check out “For Death or Glory” at the has such goodies as versions of characters Star Trek Animated site, especially the comic Copyright 2005 U.S.S. Chesapeake from other “generations” of Trek if they were book fans in our group. NCC-9102, a in the animated show, a place where you can Finally, I also want to encourage those not-for-profit organization. send online greeting cards with images from who are interested in the New Voyages fan All rights reserved, the cartoon and a way to get your very own films to go out and get the latest issue of the including animated portrait! Star Trek Communicator magazine (#154, with reproducing parts of this document. But my favorite part of the site is where Brent Spiner as Dr. Soong on the cover) for a some folks have created online comic books terrific article on “In Harm’s Way,” which lets Check out our club in the TAS style. The first of these was an us know work is already underway on the website: www. usschesapeake.org adaptation of the most popular episode, “Yes- third adventure of Kirk with the Elvis hairdo! teryear,” in which Spock uses the Guardian Captain Randy Hall The opinions of Forever to go back in time and save his expressed in this newsletter do not younger self from an early death on Vulcan. necessarily represent Since then, the online comics have con- those of the tained new images and new stories, one of entire club. which deals with Kang’s wife taking a ship to “Star Trek,” the Great Barrier to try and create Klingons “Star Trek: The Next with the incredible powers Gary Mitchell got Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space in “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Nine,” “Star Trek: Well, one of the comics creators got a Voyager,” and “Star Trek: Enterprise,” look at the Exeter film and was inspired to as well as the terms produce “Home Is Not a Place,” an online “starship” and comic that features a young M’Ress (the feline “starship Enterprise,” are registered character voiced by Majel Roddenberry) and trademarks of an adventure she had on her home planet Paramount Pictures while a member of the Exeter crew. Corporation. All rights reserved. That tale led fan Colin Moore to envision Absolutely no a full-blown crossover featuring both casts in infringement on the animated style, which is entitled “For these rights is intended. Death or Glory.” While assisting a damaged vessel near the COMSTAR, page 2 Neutral Zone, the Enterprise is attacked by the SCIENCE TREK: What was new in the old year 2004 is done. Gone, but not forgotten Finally, there’s the water skis for those yet. So before we get too far ahead in two- without friends: Solo Watersports sells an double-ought-five, let’s take a look back at automated water ski boat to pull you across the science and technology of 2004 and see the bay. Just don’t ram your $10,995 Solo into what they mean for our future. Fortunately, the dude e-mailing his boss about being sick I have a copy of Time’s November 29, 2004, while he’s hanging ten. issue, with the convenient cover story head- lined “The Most Amazing Inventions of Barriers and bots, needles and knees 2004.” Let’s get started. The ultimate use isn’t here yet, but Sumitomo Chemical embedded a long-term Coming to a dealer near you (five-year) insecticide into a plastic weave. The biggest story of the year is the con- Today, it’ll protect kids and families in tropi- quest of space by a privately funded space- cal countries from those nasty malaria-bearing ship, the eponymous SpaceShipOne, winner mosquitoes. Tomorrow, it’ll protect explorers of the $10 million X-Prize for the first non- on distant worlds from alien insects that government venture to launch into space would infect them with mind- and body- (defined by convention as 62 miles beyond altering pathogens. the Earth’s surface) and return safely twice in No, not the robotic soccer player or mini- two weeks. butler that will one day lead to Data (go read Looking to the rest of the world like a “Science Trek” in the last five Comstars), but pair of mating insects, SpaceShipOne and its rather a remote-controlled mini-gun plat- mothership, White Knight (from the mind of form. Boldly going where General O’Neill aircraft pioneer Burt Rutan and the wallet of won’t. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen) beat 23 Hate it when that phlebotomist is practic- other teams. ing acupuncture with your arm? Now Conen- Like many a brilliant inventor, Rutan hill Biomedics brings you OnTarget, a “vein- borrowed from a completely unrelated field contrast-enhancing” tool that takes an infra- (badminton) to design a spacecraft that, red picture of your arm and then projects it launched as many a test flight before from a onto your limb. One day, it’ll just be a stan- mothership (albeit nine miles up), hinged dard component of a medical tricorder. back its wings and returned to Earth like a New from Iceland is the Rheo Knee, a shuttlecock. computer-controlled prosthetic device that provides amputees with a big step up from a Wheels and waves wooden peg. Someday, Picard will be im- The GoCar, a GPS-equipped three-wheeler, planted with a clockwork heart whose far lets you tool around San Francisco (future distant ancestor is the technology behind site of Starfleet HQ) at speeds up to Warp Rheo Knee—and you thought he was just a 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001 Frenchman with a British accent. (roughly 35 miles per hour). The Centaur mates a self-balancing Last, final words Segway to another set of wheels and a cool, I’ll give you the item, you come up with non-yellow banana seat. Its future incarna- the future use for the rest of these 2004 tions will be perfect for roving Starfleet inventions: self-adhesive, strapless goggles; explorers or David Hasselhoff in Baywatch ultraviolet toothbrush sanitizer; oral swab ARARART CREDITS: 3000. Harry Haney’s invention is the bastard HIV tester; ripeness sensored fruit; tempera- media.wireless.ign.com 1 child of a LST and a snowmobile. Traveling ture-sensitive label ink; seedless cantaloupe- statrekanimated.com 2 across melting ice planets won’t be a problem sized watermelon; flame-contained portable google.com/images/ in your prototype Snow Boat. camping cooking unit; thermoacoustic refrig- 3, 4, 5 Can’t go anywhere without your com- erator; earclip speaker with jawbone (non- startrek.com 6 Dynamic Graphics puter? Now you can surf the worldwide imbedded) sensor to filter out background Insert front waves on Intel’s surfboard equipped with a noise; clear plastic cover for CDs and DVDs to Presentation Task tablet PC. OMG that Gr8t white bit off my be left on during play; wall-mounted TV that Force Insert back leg. :-0. continued on page 6 COMSTAR, page 3 REFLECTIONS: The Anti-Trek It didn’t take long for the rumors of a new magazine late in 1992, “visually, dramatically, science-fiction show to make their way character-wise and on every possible level. around fandom. Harlan Ellison immediately Babylon 5 will be fresher, a radically different declared Star Trek dead and stated that this sort of show. We don’t have their limitations. new series would be like nothing you’d ever They’re hamstrung, and we’re going to go in seen. Since Harlan said it, the Purists were there and go nuts.” foaming at the mouth and waiting with baited This was the firing of the first salvo. Soon breath. after, I was being barraged by the likes of Arne I first became aware of Joseph Michael Starr (an inker for DC Comics) and Dennis Straczynski back in the late 1980s. He wrote Russell Bailey (co-writer of The Next Genera- the screenplay column for Writer’s Digest tion episodes “Tin Man” and “First magazine, a column I read religiously back Contact”), telling me that I would not then. I had written my first screenplay about go back to Star Trek after watching seven years earlier and had only rediscovered Babylon 5. the desire to write with the unveiling of a new Well, this was a pretty dicey thing to Star Trek. I wanted to write for television, and proclaim at a Star Trek convention. I wanted desperately to write for Star Trek! Well, dicey isn’t quite the word. DUMB This is where I first heard the initial is probably a better description, and I say rumblings of what would come to be Stra- this not out of spite, but because of the czynski’s baby. He used every opportunity to result. All they did was succeed in alien- promote his new idea for a “ground-break- ating a lot of would-be viewers and set ing” science-fiction series. expectations so high that they might He lambasted all the science fiction that have been impossible to achieve. came before it as juvenile and hokey, all The Purists liked it, but I have yet to except the original Star Trek. He proclaimed meet one who actually watched the show that show as holy and the only TV science- on a regular basis. Their response was always J. Michael Straczynski fiction series to ever get it right. Not being a the same: “I don’t watch televison.” I’ve al- COMPLETE idiot, J.M.S. spoke glowingly of ways wondered how one can endorse a show the Original Series, showering it with plati- one has never seen. tudes and placing it upon a television pedes- The Moderates also liked the show, but it tal. He knew where his core audience would was pretty obvious why. Its trite, melodra- be found and just what side his bread was matic acting, two-dimensional characters and buttered on. rather obvious plot lines walked lock-step with It was 1989, and we were assured that this the light-headedness and light heart-hearted- new series of his would be unrivaled by any ness of the crap they called literature they were science-fiction show then on the air. This currently reading. intrigued me, especially because The Next The Warsies were a split group. Half of Generation was going strong at the time, not them liked Babylon 5, and the other half did to mention several other science-fiction pro- not. The half that embraced it liked it for the grams that it had influenced. same reason the Purists did: It wasn’t Star A few years went by, and I heard nothing. Trek. The others didn’t like it because it Then in the fall of 1992, I started noticing wasn’t Star Wars. They felt betrayed. these weird people at every convention, lob- The stage was set, the battleground was bying for this new show, Babylon 5. They also cleared. There would be more mud-slinging assured us that we would be totally knocked and plenty of accusations, but not from the out by what we saw and that there would be Star Trek camp. All of the disparaging re- NOTHING to compare to it. This would marks, the finger-pointing and lies came from prove to be problematic, for their main target J.M.S. and his cronies. Star Trek never ac- audience, as I said, was Trek fandom, and the knowledged them at all. Of course, this was main target of their attacks and excoriations? only fuel for the fire. Star Trek: The Next Generation. Next month: We get into the essence of “Our intention, quite simply, is to kick Babylon 5. their ass,” Straczynski told Cinefantastique Conn Officer Lorenzo Heard COMSTAR, page 4 RANTINGS: Crash landings After the cancellation of The Adventures and the challenges they faced. of Superman, the producers had an idea for a The times were changing, and Superman series called The Adventures of Superpup for was regarded as unwilling to change with 1958. They decided to put professional them. Who wanted to read about someone midgets in costumes with big ass dog masks who’s so perfect and can solve any problems and use the same sets as the previous show. by sheer might and not get his hair mussed? Superpup was reporter Bark Bent, working On January 12, 1966, a new superhero for Editor Perry Bite of the Daily Bugle. The craze began. ABC premiered the first episode villain was Professor Sheepdip, who kid- of Batman. It was a totally campy show. napped ace reporter Pamela Poodle. Everything was played for laughs. It was an This is not a tequila-induced hallucination immediate success on Wednesday and Thurs- of mine. A production company actually day nights. And before you could say “faster filmed this. For anyone who’s interested, than a speeding bullet,” superheroes were proof can be found at: http://davidschutz. everywhere on TV. tripod.com/superpup.htm. David Newman and Robert Benton Mercifully, this was never made into any- decided that the time was right for a musical thing but an unsold pilot. It may have con- based on Superman. On March 29, 1966, It’s tributed to George Reeves’ reported despair. a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s …Superman pre- In a symmetrical case of returning to the miered on Broadway. Bob Holiday starred as drawing board and extremely bad timing, it Clark Kent/Superman. was decided to revive Superman for 1959 just It achieved a modicum of success but before George Reeves was found dead. ultimately closed after 129 performances on Now, the production company was really July 17, 1966. The musical was revived on left scrambling, so they hit upon the idea of ABC on television in 1975 for one night, and The Adventures of Superboy for1961 starring fortunately, like some bad ideas, was never Johnny Rockwell as Clark Kent/Superboy. heard from again. The pilot was made and was faithful to the On September 10, 1966, CBS broadcast comic book, but it went nowhere. Whether the animated New Adventures of Superman it was too soon after Reeves’ death or just the from Filmation studios. It was a success. Bud fact that the pilot wasn’t any good is open to Collyer recreated his role from the Fleischer debate; they had reached the end of the line. cartoons and radio. But the 104 episodes Reeves made ran in The second and third seasons saw Super- syndication for years and are brought back man teamed with Aquaman and Batman, periodically to this day. respectively, until 1969, when CBS cancelled Meanwhile, things had been happening in Superman et al. under pressure from Action the comics since the late 1950s. A lot of char- for Children’s Television. acters were being revived in new forms from Again, a bunch of irresponsible, self- the Golden Age of the ’30s and ’40s. In the righteous “do-gooders” blamed Superman late Silver Age of the 1950s and early ’60s, DC and other TV characters for their children’s had a lot of success. But by the mid-1960s, the problems rather than accepting responsibility world was changing. for being lousy parents. DC Comics characters had become stale. In the 1970s, the only place you could see DC, it was argued, portrayed a world where Superman aside from the comics was as a part white men solved all the problems. Women of the Super Friends, which ran on ABC from were for rescuing from the problems that they 1973 to 1979. Danny Dark voiced Superman had gotten themselves into. Minorities had in that cartoon. virtually no place in DC’s world and then only Super Friends was a great big happy family as petty criminals. And that didn’t change of members of the Justice League: Superman, until the late ’70s. Batman and Robin, Aquaman and Wonder DC’s major competitor, Marvel, was Woman. There was little violence and equally exploding and having great success confront- little plot. The art was abysmal. ing some of those issues DC ignored, and the Superman comics in the ’70s were also COMSTAR, page 5 young readers could relate to the characters continued on page 6 COMING EVENTS FEBRUARY February 11-13 ...... Farpoint 2005 at the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Guests will include Jeffrey Combs (Shran on Enter- prise, Weyoun on DS9), Tony Amendola (Bra’tac on SG-1), Wayne Pygram (Scorpius on Farscape) and David Franklin (Captain Braca on Farscape). For more information, check out their website at http://www.farpointcon.com. February 26 ...... Happy 14th birthday, U.S.S. Chesapeake! We’ll celebrate at our February club meeting! Stay tuned! SCIENCE TREK: What was new in the old year (continued) continued from page 3 Next month, we’ll talk about one more turns into a mirror when not in use as a TV; article from this issue of Time, provocatively text-messaging crystal chandelier; belt-driven titled “Cosmic Conundrum.” wrist watch; fluorinated ketone—looks like Web Notes: water, pours like water, but doesn’t wet like • http://www.xprize.org/ (Web site of the water; and so on and so on and so on. [Michael] Ansari X[-files]-prize); and I’d have to spend a few more months on • http://what.urlgoeshere.huh: (I just want to this topic to cover all the inventions. I hope see if Wayne actually edits these Web notes.) I’ve just whet your appetite. Second Officer Phil Margolies RANTINGS: Crash landings (continued) coninued from page 5 But American icons have this habit of pretty much forgettable due to bad storytell- roaring back just when you think they’re down ing and uninspired art. Other comic artists and out. were doing great things in the “Age of Rele- Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have vance,” but the “Big Blue Boy Scout” was immortal longings in me. largely ignored. Officer Peter Chewning

HOLODICTATION: A Ferengi without profit is not a Ferengi at all There’s a lot to be learned from the “Rules A good student of the Rules should be the of Acquisition.” I’ve always said that if you one exploiting the people who owe them, a take out any Star Trek references, good student should be the abuser, and a good the Rules of Acquisition can be student should be the one making all of the used in today’s business place. profit that he can. What Ferengi doesn’t want One must study these rules and to vacation on Risa or even own his own know them inside out if you moon? I want these things, and you want want to make more profit for these things. you and your family. This has We just entered the new year, a time to landed right on my front door- reflect on what we’ve done and to improve step. ourselves so we can bank all the gold-pressed If one does not heed the Rom and Quark latinum we can acquire. My New Year’s reso- rules, he will become their servant, and as you lution is to study the Rules of Acquisition so I know, servants cannot attain great profit. can end the year with much profit and much I have ignored the teachings of the Grand happiness. Negus and let myself be placed in a position Satisfaction is not guaranteed. where I am exploited and abused by my Weapons Officer Patrick McBee debtors. Son of C. Dwan

COMSTAR, page 6 I want to be on the good end of this deal. Owner and Proprietor of pMs Enterprises